I've read previous topics on the BB about Paulie being a capo for the Lucchese family. But I read something rather interesting. While reading Gangsters and Goodfellas, the description of Paulie at the beginning of the book says that he was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Here's the description:

Paul "Paulie" Vario, Sr.
Boss of the Lucchese family, Paul made much of his fortune from bootlegging and expanded to numbers, truck hijackings, and, indirectly, drugs. Henry's testimony in the KENRAC trial put Vario in a Ft. Worth prison, where he died in 1988 at the age of 73.

Also, under the description of Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese, it states that Lucchese is the namesake of Paulie's family. And furthermore, it states that Tommy's organization continued to prosper for another decade under Vario.

So now I'm wondering, was Paulie the boss of the Lucchese family, or is that description inaccurate? I'm sure Turnbull knows, but anyone else who knows, thanks in advance.

I don't think Paul Vario was ever the boss of the Lucchese's. I know in the movie Henry says he was the boss over everyone in the neighborhood.. maybe that's what he was talking about in Gangsters and Goodfellas?

Anyways, here's the list of the bosses around that time, to now:

Gaetano Lucchese - 1953 to 1967
Carmine Tramunti - 1967 to 1974
Anthony Corallo - 1974 to 1987
Vittorio Amuso - 1987 to 1992
Joe DeFede - 1992 to Present

Vario was a capo in the Family. He was never the "Boss".

I read further into the book, and Henry called him capo. I find it very strange that Gus Russo called him boss, but Henry called him capo. I researched the Lucchese family as well, and found that Paulie was never boss, just a capo. I even found a picture of the real Paulie, something I'd never been able to find. They got a surveillance picture of Paulie in the book, but it's from far away, so you can't really tell what he looks like. However, I don't think there's any known images of Tommy De Simone. Anyway, I thought I'd share the picture of Paulie with the rest of you.



I found the image at FreeInfoSociety.com . It's amazing how much info they got on there. They got a whole short biography on Paulie, and Jimmie Burke.

By "boss," he probably meant "a boss," not "the boss." Vario was a capo in the Lucchese family and did ok in his heyday, but he never got close to the seat of power.

Not to argue with Turnbull or anyone, I'm not exactly an authority, but I remember reading somewhere that Vario was in fact Acting-Boss of the Lucchese family for certain period of time. What significance this may have I don't know personally, just thought I'd mention it.

Reading further into the book, it says that Paulie and Tuddy were really tight with Tommy Lucchese, and they were just as respected as Tommy. Paulie and Tuddy were "made" at an un-characterically young age, because they were excellent earners. So although Paulie never made it past capo, he was considered by many as "boss."